I built my Warmoth strat just because I wanted a killer strat and didn't want to pay the ridiculous Fender price. It turned out great, and I only have about 700 bucks in it, including some handwound pups. Best looking and sounding strat I've ever laid hands on. I am a little biased, however! LOL

For me, I'm quite satisfied with the guitars that are commercially available; otherwise I wouldn't own so damn many of them already. I build for the challenge, for the love of the guitar, and for the enjoyment I get from woodworking. And, as Greg mentioned above, I like to put my own twist on the guitars...to go where no man has gone before! At least that's what got me started. What motivates me more than anything else at this point, is the praise and encouragement I get from people who see my work. That just adds a whole new dimension to the enjoyment.

For my 8 string bass needs, I basically had to make my own. The ones that are out there for sale are not that great, and they are hard to find anyway. I got one through an endorsement a few years ago, and it was a piece of crap. So I figured I would just do it myself. I have been working on my own guitars for 25 years. Here is my low C tuned bass with a Warmoth neck and EMG's. I used this bass for all the tracks on my last 2 albums.